From the desk of GCM

Forward thinking

Have you ever thought you want to play a golf course that suits your length off the tee? You're not alone.

TEE IT FORWARD is a new initiative scheduled July 5-17 for golf facilities nationwide. The goal is to help golfers have a more overall enjoyable experience by playing from a set of tees that is best suited for their games based on their driving distance. The PGA of America and United States Golf Association partnered to support the initiative. GCSAA is encouraging its members to support the initiative with the golfers and leadership at golf facilities.

The intention goes something like this: hit 6- and 7-irons instead of hybrids and long irons on approach shots, shorten distance traveled on each hole, and reduce the number of lost golf balls. All of those factors are expected to make it a more enjoyable round on the golf course.

Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, introduced the concept for TEE IT FORWARD. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus gives a thumbs-up to the initiative.

DuPont cautions Imprelis users

In the wake of complaints about twisting and curling of new growth in Norway spruce, white pine and other evergreens, DuPont has asked users of the herbicide Imprelis not to apply the product on or near these tree species.

DuPont is currently conducting an investigation to determine the exact circumstances under which the tree damage occurred. The company says that most of the cases involve white pine or Norway spruce, that Imprelis was not applied alone but in a mixture with other pre- or post-emergent herbicdes, and that errors may have occurred involving use rates, mixing practices or applications to exposed roots or to the tree itself.

The company also cautions users "to be careful that no spray treatment, drift or runoff occurs that could make contact with trees, shrubs and other desirable plants, and stay well away from exposed roots and the root zone of trees and shrubs."

For more information from DuPont, go to http://www2.dupont.com/Professional_Products/en_US/Products_and_Services/Imprelis/index.html or send questions to proproducts@usa.dupont.com.

Nelson: AAC is A-OK

Three-time major golf champion Larry Nelson likes what they have done to the place at Atlanta Athletic Club.

It has been 30 years since Nelson won the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC), and he plans to test the Highland Course there Aug. 11-14 when the PGA Championship returns to the AAC. Nelson has sent in his entry (all former PGA Championship winners are eligible), partly because his sons encouraged him to do so. No wonder, then, why Nelson recently paid a visit to AAC to check it out.

Nelson told me today that Ken Mangum, CGCS, director of golf courses and grounds at AAC and a 37-year GCSAA member, has done special things at the 7,467-yard par-70 golf course.

"Ken has done a terrific job," says Nelson, 63, a 2006 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame. "What we're going to see is the Atlanta Athletic Club and Southern golf at its best in August."

Storms deal a blow to Massachusetts course

Today marks the second day of summer (officially ... it's felt like summer in parts of the country for much longer than that), and in the Midwest, that typically means another severe weather season has come and gone. And this has been one for the record books, with mind-blowing devastation in places like Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala.

You can add another location to that list, too, one that isn't used to seeing tornadoes at any time of the year — Springfield, Mass., which took a direct hit from a deadly tornado earlier this month. And one of the places in Springfield that suffered significant damage was Veterans Memorial GC, where 17-year GCSAA member Andy Gay serves as superintendent.

"Everyone on my crew and all the golfers who were on the course that day are fine," Andy told me. "The pro shop staff did a fabulous job of getting everyone off the course in time, and they actually road out the tornado in the pro shop. The grounds crew and I had left for the day, but my assistant and irrigation tech live right by the course and got a good look at things. We are all fine, too."

2015 Golf Industry Show heading to San Antonio

For the first time since the late 1970s, GCSAA members will be deep in the heart of Texas for the annual education conference and trade show.

That's because of today's anouncement from GCSAA and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) that the 2015 Golf Industry Show along with each organization's respective education conferences is headed to San Antonio and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center (pictured here). The education conferences are set for Feb. 23-27, while the trade show itself will be Feb. 25-26. It marks the first time GCSAA has visited San Antonio since 1978; the NGCOA has never held its annual conference or trade show in the city.

"Based on attendee feedback, we selected San Antonio for the 2015 Golf Industry Show," GCSAA Chief Executive Officer Rhett Evans said. "It is a new location that attendees and exhibitors want to go to and do business. It is a great addition to the Golf Industry Show lineup and another outstanding destination."

The complete news release from the GIS partners about this announcement follows: 

Final round set-up, conditioning notes

The national television broadcast of the final round of the 2011 U.S. Open just took to the air and I just received the final-round set-up and conditioning notes from the USGA. Good timing ...

COURSE SETUP: ROUND FOUR OF THE 2011 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (12:15 p.m.)

The following are details on the course setup for Round 4 of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, from Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director.

Weather Forecast for Sunday (provide by Greg Quinn and Jake Swick with Thor Guard Weather) — Mostly cloudy skies and muggy conditions will persist through much of the morning and into the early afternoon hours. Temperatures will likely remain in the upper 70s until we get a break in the cloud cover by 2-3 p.m. Currently there is a large area of showers and thunderstorms over Indiana and Kentucky and although it should weaken and dip southward as it progresses to the east, this may impact our area during the mid-late afternoon time period.

Green Speeds — This morning’s green speeds averaged 13 1/2 feet on the USGA Stimpmeter, which will likely settle out in the low 13s by midday.

They said it: USGA's O'Toole, Hall

The golf course playing host to the 2011 U.S. Open — the Blue Course at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md. — and the softer-than-desired conditions that have greeted competitors this week have become such a part of the story this week that Tom O'Toole, the vice president of the USGA and the chairman of the Championship Committee, and Jeff Hall, the managing director of rules and competition, took to the interview room to answer questions from the media on set-up, conditioning, etc.

This is pretty long — it'll give you something to do until the final-round broadcast comes on the air at 1:30 p.m. Eastern — but certainly appropriate for the audience of this blog.

Q: Is the fact that the greens are relatively new, does it relate to the moisture they're holding? Even though you've had some weather, I know you have SubAir, for example, would that SubAir be more effective if the greens weren't as new?

TOM O'TOOLE: I think the moisture that the greens have held aren't particularly correlated with their age. I think it's the oppressive heat we had last week that started us off on this dynamic of weather that we've experienced, and then of course making sure that we maintain the health of those greens by hydrating them and raising the cut of our mowing, not rolling, and the number of times we've mowed and rolled. So we've done all those things to maintain the health of Congressional's greens. I think actually the SubAir has helped us with the moisture that we've experienced since the championship started.

While they're certainly soft, as evidenced by some of the scoring, I actually am — I'm surprised they're not softer, I guess, is my point. And so I don't — I think the age of those greens are not correlated at all with the presentation of that surface the players are experiencing the last couple days.

Rain and what it's meant at Congressional

At the conclusion of the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open, Northern Ireland's Rory McElroy is at 14-under-par for the championship — a plateau never before reached in a U.S. Open — and has an eight-shot lead over his nearest competitor. All told, 20 players stand under par heading into the final round.

These are not numbers usually associated with a U.S. Open, the notorious "most rigorous, most difficult, yet fair examination in golf." And as a result, there have been plenty of critical eyes turned toward the championship's host, the Blue Course at Congressional CC.

I have been explaining why Congressional has played the way it's played on this blog all week and, now that I'm home in the Midwest, I've been doing the same with folks who ask me about it here. But thankfully, James "Jimbo" Hayes, the second assistant superintendent on the Blue Course, sent me the information below earlier today which addresses the biggest reason why the layout is yielding these record-breaking scores — the weather:

Third round set-up, conditioning notes

Here is the official USGA update on set-up and conditioning for the weather-delayed third round of the 2011 U.S. Open on the Blue Course at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md.:

COURSE SETUP: ROUND THREE OF THE 2011 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (12:45 p.m.)

The following are details on the course setup for Round 3 of the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, from Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director.

Weather Forecast for Saturday (provide by Greg Quinn and Jake Swick with Thor Guard Weather) — The overall weather pattern will not change much during the next few days. Overnight and morning shower activity will continue with redeveloping showers and thunderstorms possible during the afternoon hours. An area of showers and thunderstorms is currently moving through West Virginia. Warm and humid conditions will prevail today with high temperatures in the mid-upper 80s with scattered showers and thunderstorms redeveloping during the mid-late afternoon timeframe

Green Speeds — This morning’s green speeds averaged 13 1/2 feet on the USGA Stimpmeter after the heavy rains, which will likely settle out in the low 13s by midday.

Water, new greens and the U.S. Open

If you've read our posts throughout the past week from the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional CC, you'll recognize the name James "Jimbo" Hayes (kneeling in photo) as my go-to guy for information about the status of the Blue Course and the activities of the maintenance staff.

Hayes is the second assistant superintendent on the Blue Course and volunteered his services as a guest blogger for us. The plan was for him to submit daily updates of his duties and activities in preparing the course for the championship, and provide a little insight into what it's like to serve on a maintenance staff at a major golf championship.

Well, like so many other well-laid plans, real life and Hayes' duties on the golf course got in the way. He still served as a valuable resource for me, answering texts, emails and phone calls at all hours of the day and night, and drug my carcas around the course on more than one occasion. But he didn't quite get to the writing like he figured he would.

Well, until now. As I sat in Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport waiting for my return flight to Kansas City, I received an email from Hayes with the following post. We're planning on more to come over the weekend, so check back for those.